Boeing adds 777, 747 orders but lags Airbus in Q1 sales

The Boeing Co. added orders in late March for Everett-built 747s and 777s but remained well behind Airbus in jet sales for the first quarter.On Thursday, Airbus reported 410 net orders in the first quarter after getting a boost last month from Lion Air of Indonesia, which ordered 234 single-aisle aircraft. Boeing, which also updated its orders tally Thursday, had 209 net orders through March 31.Boeing added 27 new orders since updating the company orders Web page last week. Those include three 747s for Cathay Pacific, eight 777s for an identified customer and four 737s for All Nippon Airways. Boeing also announced order Thursday for 12 737s for Russia's Sberbank Leasing, which will provide the jets to Transaero.Boeing's 777 order, though, was zeroed out by a cancellation for eight 777s, also reported Thursday. The company logged one cancellation for a 737. The Chicago-based jet maker is expected to finalize soon an order for 787s from IAG, the parent of British Airways. Boeing's book of firm orders also doesn't include one from Ryanair for 175 737s -- a deal that was announced last month.The bulk of Airbus' tally for 2013 is for the A320 family of jets, with 394 orders. Airbus also logged 37 orders for wide-body jets over the quarter. The European jet maker logged 431 orders over the first three months of 2013 but took in 21 cancellations as well.Also on Thursday, Airbus said it delivered 144 jets in the first quarter, including 114 single-aisle aircraft. The Toulouse, France-based company for the year is ahead of Boeing, which reported 137 jet deliveries in the first quarter. That's the same number of jets Boeing handed over in the first three months of 2012.Boeing deliveries for the quarter this year were hurt by the Jan. 16 grounding of the 787 by the Federal Aviation Administration. The company is expected to conduct a flight test of the 787's redesigned battery system for the FAA "in the coming days," a spokesman for the company said on Wednesday.Boeing's deliveries for the first quarter include one 787, four 767s, six 747s, 24 777s and 102 737s. The company's shares were up 59 cents, to $84.95 in trading Thursday.Michelle Dunlop: 425-339-3454; mdunlop@heraldnet.com.

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